Vacuum cleaner

ABSTRACT

A vacuum cleaner is provided that includes a cleaner body incorporating a suction motor, an inlet hose, and an outlet hose; a suction brush; a cyclone unit for separating dirt from air, the cyclone unit discharging the air after the dirt is separated; a dirt collection bin for collecting the separated dirt, the dirt collection bin being removably arranged below the cyclone unit; an engagement unit for allowing the dirt collection bin to be removably fitted in the cleaner body, the engagement unit having at least one engagement projection and at least one engagement groove; and a guide unit for guiding the engagement projection to be correctly engaged in the engagement groove.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.10-2006-021173 filed on Mar. 7, 2006, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated hereinby reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to a vacuum cleaner for cleaning asurface, and in particular to a vacuum cleaner having a construction,which allows a dirt collection bin to be removably mounted on a cleanerbody.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, a vacuum cleaner comprises a cleaner body, whichincorporates a suction motor, an inlet hose, and an outlet hose, and asuction brush for drawing dirt from a surface to be cleaned. Inaddition, the vacuum cleaner includes a dust collection unit thereinthat includes a cyclone unit and a dirt collection bin. The cyclone unitseparates dirt from air introduced through the suction brush and thendischarges purified air, and the dirt collection bin collects the dirtseparated from the air.

In particular, the dirt collection bin is removably mounted on thecleaner body, wherein a construction for mounting such a dirt collectionbin is disclosed in Korean Patent Registration No. 478518. The dirtcollection bin disclosed in the Patent Registration is stably fixed tothe cleaner body by a locking unit provided on the front face of thecleaner body.

However, there was a problem in that the locking unit has a complicatedconstruction and slight troubles frequently occur from the components ofthe locking unit, in particular, a spring if the locking unit is usednumerous times.

Furthermore, the operation for removing the dirt collection bin from thecleaner body is performed in two steps of: constantly pressing a lockingbutton, and then pulling the dirt collection bin away from the cleanerbody in the state in which the locking button is pressed. Therefore,there is a difficulty in using the dirt collection bin.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present disclosure has been made to solve theabove-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and an aspect ofthe present disclosure is to provide a vacuum cleaner including acleaner body and a dirt collection bin, wherein the dirt collection bincan be stably mounted on or removed from the cleaner body through asimple construction.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a vacuum cleanerincluding a cleaner body and a dirt collection bin, wherein the dirtcollection bin can be vertically lifted or lowered with a horizontalposture when it is lifted/lowered from a fixed condition in the cleanerbody by a lever unit.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned aspects, there is provided avacuum cleaner comprising: a cleaner body incorporating a suction motor,an inlet hose, and an outlet hose; a suction brush for suctioning dirtfrom a surface to be cleaned; a cyclone unit for separating dirt fromair introduced through the suction brush and discharging purified air; adirt collection bin for collecting the separated dirt from the cycloneunit, the dirt collection bin being removably arranged below the cycloneunit; an engagement unit for allowing the dirt collection bin to beremovably fitted in a bin reception recess provided in the cleaner body,the engagement unit comprising at least one engagement projection and atleast one engagement groove; and a guide unit for guiding the engagementprojection to be correctly engaged in the engagement groove when thedirt collection bin is received in the bin reception recess, which isformed in the cleaner body, wherein the engagement unit restrains thedirt collection bin from moving forward and backward in relation to thecleaner body and the guide unit stably restrains the dirt collection binfrom rotating left and right, thereby stably fixing the dirt collectionbin in the cleaner body.

The engagement groove may be formed in the bin reception recess, and theengagement projection may be snapped in the engagement groove when thedirt collection bin is fitted in the dirt collection bin. In that event,the engagement projection and the engagement groove may be mated witheach other at one or both side portions of each of them where theyconfront with each other.

It is preferable that the engagement projection has protrusionsvertically formed along the opposite side edges on the front facethereof, and the engagement groove has depressions, which are engagedwith the protrusions, respectively, the protrusions being press-fittedin the depressions for the purpose of solid engagement.

The guide unit may comprise: at least one guide groove formed on theouter bottom surface of the dirt collection bin; and at least one guideprojection formed on a seating surface in the cleaner body in such amanner as to be correspondingly inserted into the at least one guidegroove, the outer bottom surface of the dirt collection bin being seatedon the seating surface.

The vacuum cleaner may further comprise a lever unit interposed betweenthe outer bottom surface of the dirt collection bin and a seatingsurface in the cleaner body, on which the dirt collection bin is seated,wherein the lever unit is capable of rotating so as to render the dirtcollection bin to be lifted so that the dirt collection bin iscompressively engaged with the outer bottom surface of the cyclone unit.

It is preferable that the height of the engagement projection, H2, issmaller than the height of the engagement groove, H1, so that a verticalgap is formed when the engagement projection and the engagement grooveare engaged with each other, whereby the dirt collection bin can belifted with a horizontal posture when the lever unit is rotated.

The dirt collection bin may further comprise one or more gripping meansfor use in pulling out the dirt collection bin from the bin receptionrecess, the gripping means being provided on a surface of the dirtcollection bin exposed to the outside in a state in which the dirtcollection bin is received in the bin reception recess in the cleanerbody.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above aspects and features of the present disclosure will be moreapparent from the description for certain exemplary embodiments of thepresent disclosure taken with reference to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a vacuum cleaner according to anexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a bin reception recess in a vacuum cleaner, a dirtcollection bin mounted on the bin reception recess, and a lever unit;

FIG. 3A is a front view of the bin reception recess shown in FIG. 2

FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line Y-Y of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the dirt collection bin shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective of an engagement projection;

FIG. 6 is partial cross-sectional views of an engagement unit, thecomponents of which are formed in the dirt collection bin and the binreception recess, respectively;

FIGS. 7A and 7B show the condition before the dirt collection bin iscompressively engaged with the cyclone unit; and

FIGS. 8A and 8B show the condition after the dirt collection bin iscompressively engaged with the cyclone unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described indetail with reference to the annexed drawings. In the drawings, the sameelements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout thedrawings. In the following description, detailed descriptions of knownfunctions and configurations incorporated herein have been omitted forconciseness and clarity.

Hereinbelow, the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure aredescribed in detail with reference to accompanying drawings. In thefollowing description, a detailed description of known functions andconfigurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make thesubject matter of the present disclosure rather unclear.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner according to anexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

The vacuum cleaner 10 according to the present embodiment comprises acleaner body 11, a suction brush 13, and a dust collection unit 100.

The cleaner body 11 has a suction motor (not shown) as a vacuum source,an inlet hose and an outlet hose (not shown), one end of each of theinlet hose and the outlet hose is detachably connected with the dustcollection unit 100, wherein the above-mentioned components are providedwithin the cleaner body 11. In addition, a handle 15 is provided on thetop of the cleaner body 11, so that a user can easily move the vacuumcleaner on a surface to be cleaned.

The suction brush 13 is hinged to the bottom end of the cleaner body 11at the rear end thereof, and suctions dirt from a surface to be cleanedthrough an inlet port (not shown) formed through the bottom of thesuction brush 13.

The dust collection unit 100 comprises a cyclone unit 110, a dirtcollection bin 120, a lever unit 130, an engagement unit 140 (see FIG.2), a guide unit 150 (see FIGS. 3A and 4), and a gripping means 160.

The cyclone unit 110 separates dirt from air suctioned from a surface tobe cleaned through the suction brush 13 and guided to the inside of thecyclone unit 110 through the inlet hose (not shown). In addition, thecyclone unit 110 discharges air purified in this manner to the inlethose (not shown). Such a cyclone unit 110 is removably arranged in thebin reception recess 12 a (see FIG. 2) by fixing means (not shown).

The dirt collection bin 120 is arranged to communicate with the bottomend of the cyclone unit 110 so that the dirt separated from air by thecyclone unit 110 can drop, due to gravity and can be collected in thedirt collection bin 120. The dirt collection bin 120 has a centralrecess 124 which is inwardly depressed at the center of the bottomsurface of the dust collection bin 120, a first cylindrical projection125 formed at the center of the central recess 124, and a pair of firstinclined projections 126 a and 126 b spaced from and surrounding thefirst cylindrical projection 125. In addition, the dirt collection bin124 also has a limit groove 123 (see FIG. 4) for limiting the rotatingangle of the handle 133 (see FIG. 2) of the lever unit 133, the limitgroove 123 being formed aside of the central recess 124.

As shown in FIG. 2, the lever unit 130 comprises a rotary part 131, ahandle 133, a second cylindrical projection 135, and a pair of secondinclined projections 137 a and 137 b. The rotary part 131 is rotatablyinserted into the central recess 124 of the dirt collection bin 120. Thehandle 133 is formed on a side portion of the rotary part 131 and has apredetermined length so that a user can grip the handle 133. The secondcylindrical projection 135 is formed at the center of the rotary part131 and has a diameter smaller than that of the first cylindricalprojection 125, so that the second cylindrical projection 135 isrotatably inserted into the first cylindrical projection 125. The secondinclined projections 137 a and 137 b (see FIG. 2) are formed to bespaced from and surround the second cylindrical projection 135, so thatthe second inclined projections 137 a and 137 b (see FIG. 2) come intoslidable contact with the outer circumference of the second cylindricalprojection 135 while confronting with the first inclined projections 126a and 126 b (see FIG. 4). With such a lever unit 130, when gripping androtating the handle 133 in one direction or the other direction by apredetermined angle, the second inclined projections 137 a and 137 b,which rotate together with the lever unit 130, come into slidablecontact with the first inclined projections 126 a and 126 b, therebylifting or lowering the dirt collection bin 120 by a heightcorresponding to the rotated angle of the handle 133. In this manner,the lever unit 130 serves to lift the dirt collection bin 120 so thatthe dirt collection bin 120 is compressed against the outer bottomsurface of the cyclone unit 110, and due to this action of the leverunit 130, air-tight sealing is maintained between the cyclone unit 110and the dirt collection bin 120. As a result, the suction force withinthe dust collection unit 100 is prevented from being reduced, and theleakage of air or dirt from the dust collection unit is blocked, wherebyit is possible to prevent either the bin reception recess 12 a in thecleaner body 11 or the surrounding of the vacuum cleaner 10 from beingpolluted by dirt leaking from the dust collection unit 100.

The engagement unit 140 comprises an engagement groove 141 (see FIG. 2)formed in the bin reception recess 12 a of the cleaner body 11, and anengagement projection 145 snapped in the engagement groove 141 (see FIG.4). In this case, the engagement projection 145 is preferably formed ofa synthetic resin so that it can be resiliently engaged in theengagement groove 141. In addition, the engagement groove 141 and theengagement 145 are mated with each other at the both sides of each ofthem where they are in contact with each other. That is, as shown inFIG. 3B, the engagement groove 141 has depressions 143 a and 143 bvertically formed at the opposite side walls thereof and the engagementprojection 145 has protrusions 146 a and 146 b formed at opposite sideedges on the front face thereof, so that the protrusions 146 a and 146 bare inserted into the depressions 143 a and 143 b, respectively, whenthe engagement projection 145 is snapped in the engagement groove 141,wherein the protrusions 146 a and 146 b are vertically formed tocorrespond with the depressions 143 a and 143 b, respectively. Inaddition, the protrusions 146 a and 146 b are formed to be somewhatlarger than the depressions 143 a and 143 b in volume, so that theformer is press-fitted into the latter, whereby solid engagement can beachieved. Furthermore, the engagement projection 145 has a height lessthan that of the engagement groove 141, so that when the engagementprojection 145 is snapped into the engagement groove 141, a gap (G) isformed between the top wall 143 c of the engagement groove 141 and thetop surface 146 c of the engagement projection 145, as shown in FIG. 7B,thereby assuring that upon being lifted by rotary part 131, the dirtcollection bin 120 is engaged with the outer bottom surface of thecyclone unit 110 at the top end thereof while maintaining an airtightcondition. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the height of theengagement groove 141, H1, is larger than the height of the engagementprojection 145, H2 (i.e., H1>H2), wherein the gap G is provided in orderthat when the dirt collection bin 120 is lifted from a state in which itis fixed in the bin reception recess 12 a by the engagement unit 140,the dirt collection bin 120 can be lifted with a horizontal posturewithout being inclined toward the fixed side in such a manner as to beengaged with the outer bottom surface of the cyclone unit 110 whilemaintaining the airtight condition. As a result, the dirt collection bin120 is stably and smoothly lifted and lowered while being retainedwithin the bin reception recess 12 a by the rotation of the lever unit130.

The guide unit 150 comprises a pair of guide grooves 153 a and 153 b(see FIG. 4) formed longitudinally parallel to each other on the outerbottom surface of the dirt collection bin 120, and a pair of guideprojection 151 a and 151 b formed on the seating surface 12 b (see FIG.3A), on which the outer bottom surface of the dirt collection bin 120 isseated, in such a manner that the guide projections 151 a and 151 b arecorrespondingly inserted into the guide grooves 153 a and 153 b. Such aguide unit 150 serves to guide the dust collection unit 100 in such amanner that when the dust collection unit 100 is inserted into the binreception recess 12 a of the cleaner body 11, the engagement projection145 is correctly engaged in the engagement groove 141, whereby a usercan easily make the engagement groove 141 and the engagement projection145 engaged with each other. Meanwhile, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure, the leftward and rightwardrotation of the dirt collection bin 120 is restrained through the guideunit 150, and the forward and backward movement of the dirt collectionbin 120 is restrained through the engagement unit 140, as a result ofwhich the dirt collection bin 120 can be three-dimensionally fixed at aside portion and the bottom side thereof.

The gripping means 160 is provided on a side portion of the dirtcollection bin 120 exposed to the outside in a state in which the dirtcollection bin 120 is received in the bin reception recess 12 a in thecleaner body 11, so that a user can easily and conveniently pull out thedirt collection bin 120 from the bin reception recess 12 a to theoutside using one or more fingers.

Now, description is made in relation to how to mount the dirt collectionbin configured according to the exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure as described above.

When a user mounts the dirt collection bin 120 below the cyclone unit110 fixed in the bin reception recess 12 a in the cleaner body 11, theuser grips the gripping means 160 of the dirt collection bin 160 (seeFIG. 2) and then pushes the dirt collection bin 120 into a space belowthe cyclone unit 110 in the cleaner body 11 in such a manner that theguide grooves 153 a and 153 b (see FIG. 4) formed on the bottom of thedirt collection bin 120 are engaged with the guide projections 151 a and151 b (see FIG. 3A) formed on the seating surface 12 b (see FIG. 3A) inthe cleaner body 11.

The user pushes the dirt collection bin 120 into the space until theengagement projection 145 is snapped in the engagement groove 141 sothat the predetermined gap G is provided between the engagementprojection 145 and the engagement groove 141 as shown in FIG. 7B. Fromthis state, the handle 133 of the lever unit 130 is rotated to a point Bas shown in FIG. 8A from the initial position (point A) thereof.

As a result, the dirt collection bin 120 is lifted toward the outerbottom surface of the cyclone unit 110 by the first and second inclinedprojections 126 a and 126 b; 137 a and 137 b which are in slidablecontact with each other between the dirt collection bin 120 and thelever unit 110. At this time, the engagement projection 145 isvertically lifted in the engagement groove 141 together with the dirtcollection bin 120, so that the top surface 146 c of the engagementprojection 145 comes into contact with the top wall 143 c of theengagement groove 141. Therefore, the dirt collection bin 120 is liftedwhile maintaining its horizontal posture, so that the dirt collectionbin 120 is safely received in the space below the cyclone unit 110 in acompressed state against the outer bottom surface of the latter, wherebythe top end of the dirt collection bin 120 is evenly in contact with theouter bottom surface of the cyclone unit 110 in general, whereby theairtight condition can be maintained between the cyclone unit 110 andthe dirt collection bin 120.

At this time, in order to prevent the dirt collection bin 120 from beingreleased from the bin collection part 12 a in the cleaner body when theguide projections 151 a and 151 b are disengaged from the guide grooves153 a and 153 b after the dirt collection groove 120 is lifted, it isdesired that the height of the guide projections 151 a and 151 b and thedepth of the guide grooves 153 a and 153 b are larger than the maximumheight for allowing the dirt collection bin 120 to be lifted.

When the dirt collection bin 120 is separated from the bin receptionrecess 12 a in order to remove the dirt collected in the dirt collectionbin 120, the handle 133 of the lever unit 130 is rotated from the pointB (see FIG. 8B) to the point A (see FIG. 7A). As such, the dirtcollection bin 120 will be lowered in the reversed sequence as comparedwith the procedure of mounting the dirt collection bin 120. In thisstate, if the gripping means 160 is gripped and pulled in the directionopposite to that for mounting the dirt collection bin 120, i.e., to theoutside of the cleaner body 11, the snapped engagement between theengagement groove 141 and the engagement projection 145 is released sothat the dirt collection bin 120 can be easily pulled out from thecleaner body 11.

According to the present disclosure as described above, there is anadvantage in that the dirt collection bin can be simply and stablysnapped in the bin collection part in the cleaner body through a simpleengagement unit. In addition, convenience in use can be enhanced becausethe dirt collection bin can be simply separated from the bin-receptionrecess in the cleaner body by drawing the dirt collection means from thecleaner body in a predetermined direction for pulling out the dirtcollection bin.

Moreover, when the dirt collection bin is lifted through the lever unit,the dirt collection bin is lifted while maintaining the horizontalposture thereof through the engagement unit and the guide unit, so thatthe top end of the dirt collection bin generally comes into contact withthe outer bottom surface of the cyclone unit in an evenly compressedstate, whereby the airtight state can be maintained between the cycloneunit and the dirt collection bin.

Although representative embodiments of the present disclosure have beenshown and described in order to exemplify the principle of the presentdisclosure, the present disclosure is not limited to the specificembodiments. It will be understood that various modifications andchanges can be made by one skilled in the art without departing from thespirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.Therefore, it shall be considered that such modifications, changes andequivalents thereof are all included within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

1. A vacuum cleaner comprising: a cleaner body; a suction brush forsuctioning dirt from a surface to be cleaned; a cyclone unit forseparating dirt from air introduced through the suction brush, thecyclone unit discharging purified air; a dirt collection bin forcollecting the separated dirt from the cyclone unit, the dirt collectionbin being removably arranged below the cyclone unit; an engagement unitfor allowing the dirt collection bin to be removably fitted in a binreception recess provided in the cleaner body, the engagement unitcomprising at least one engagement projection and at least oneengagement groove; and a guide unit for guiding the engagementprojection to be correctly engaged in the engagement groove when thedirt collection bin is received in the bin reception recess, wherein theengagement unit restrains the dirt collection bin from moving forwardand backward in relation to the cleaner body, and the guide unit stablyrestrains the dirt collection bin from rotating left and right, therebystably fixing the dirt collection bin in the cleaner body.
 2. The vacuumcleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the engagement groove is formedin the bin reception recess, and the engagement projection is formed onthe dirt collection bin, the engagement projection being snapped in theengagement groove when the dirt collection bin is fitted in the binreception recess.
 3. The vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 2, whereinthe engagement projection and the engagement groove are mated with eachother at one or both side portions of each of them where they confrontwith each other.
 4. The vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 2, whereinthe engagement projection has protrusions vertically formed along theopposite side edges on the front face thereof, and the engagement groovehas depressions, which are engaged with the protrusions, respectively,the protrusions being press-fitted in the depressions.
 5. The vacuumcleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the guide unit comprises: atleast one guide groove formed on the outer bottom surface of the dirtcollection bin; and at least one guide projection formed on a seatingsurface in the cleaner body in such a manner as to be correspondinglyinserted into the at least one guide groove, the outer bottom surface ofthe dirt collection bin being seated on the seating surface.
 6. Thevacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dirt collection binfurther comprises one or more gripping means for use in pulling out thedirt collection bin from the bin reception recess, the gripping meansbeing provided on a side portion of the dirt collection bin exposed tothe outside in a state in which the dirt collection bin is received inthe bin reception recess in the cleaner body.
 7. The vacuum cleaner asclaimed in claim 1, further comprising a lever unit interposed betweenthe outer bottom surface of the dirt collection bin and a seatingsurface in the cleaner body, on which the dirt collection bin is seated,wherein the lever unit is capable of rotating so as to lift the dirtcollection bin and compressively engage the dirt collection bin with theouter bottom surface of the cyclone unit.
 8. The vacuum cleaner asclaimed in claim 7, wherein the engagement projection has a height thatis smaller than a height, H1, of the engagement groove so that avertical gap is formed when the engagement projection and the engagementgroove are engaged with each other, whereby the dirt collection bin canbe lifted with a horizontal posture when the lever unit is rotated.
 9. Avacuum cleaner comprising: a cleaner body having a cyclone unit and abin reception recess below the cyclone unit; a dirt collection bin forcollecting dirt separated by the cyclone unit; an engagement unit forremovably securing the dirt collection bin in the bin reception recess,the engagement unit comprising an engagement projection and anengagement groove; and a guide unit for guiding the engagementprojection into engagement with the engagement groove when removablysecuring the dirt collection bin in the bin reception recess, wherein,when the dirt collection bin is removably secured in the bin receptionrecess, the engagement unit restrains the dirt collection bin frommoving forward and backward in relation to the cleaner body and theguide unit restrains the dirt collection bin from rotating in relationto the cleaner body.
 10. The vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 9,further comprising a lever unit between the dirt collection bin and thecleaner body, the lever unit being capable of rotating so as to lift thedirt collection bin and compressively engage the dirt collection binwith an outer bottom surface of the cyclone unit.
 11. The vacuum cleaneras claimed in claim 10, wherein the engagement groove is formed in thebin reception recess and the engagement projection is formed on the dirtcollection bin, the engagement projection being snapped in theengagement groove when the dirt collection bin is removably secured inthe bin reception recess.
 12. The vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 11,wherein the engagement projection has a height that is smaller than aheight of the engagement groove so that a vertical gap is formed whenthe engagement projection and the engagement groove are engaged witheach other, whereby the dirt collection bin can be lifted with ahorizontal posture when the lever unit is rotated.
 13. The vacuumcleaner as claimed in claim 9, wherein the guide unit comprises: atleast one guide groove formed on an outer bottom surface of the dirtcollection bin; and at least one guide projection formed on the cleanerbody in such a manner as to be correspondingly inserted into the atleast one guide groove when removably securing the dirt collection binin the bin reception recess.
 14. The vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim9, wherein the dirt collection bin further comprises one or moregripping devices.